(19)
(11) EP 0 613 316 A3

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION

(88) Date of publication A3:
12.04.1995 Bulletin 1995/15

(43) Date of publication A2:
31.08.1994 Bulletin 1994/35

(21) Application number: 93480229.9

(22) Date of filing: 15.12.1993
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC)5: H04Q 11/04, H04L 12/56, H04L 12/18
(84) Designated Contracting States:
DE FR GB

(30) Priority: 28.01.1993 US 10136

(71) Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
Armonk, N.Y. 10504 (US)

(72) Inventors:
  • Derby, Jeffrey Haskell
    Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (US)
  • Dudley, John Gary
    Raleigh, NC 27612 (US)
  • Kaplan, Marc Adam
    Katonah, NY 10536 (US)
  • Drake Jr., John Ellis
    Pittsboro, NC 27312 (US)
  • Guerin, Roch
    Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 (US)
  • Marin, Gerald Arnold
    Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (US)
  • Peters, Maria Lambert
    Pittsboro, NC 27312 (US)

(74) Representative: de Pena, Alain 
Compagnie IBM France Département de Propriété Intellectuelle
06610 La Gaude
06610 La Gaude (FR)


(56) References cited: : 
   
       


    (54) Packet switching resource management within nodes


    (57) Method and apparatus for making limited internal-node communication facilities externally visible in a packet switching network. Internal- node communication facilities are called intranode links, can include any cable, channel, bus, etc. over which data passes, and are used to connect the multiple subnodes within a given node. Each subnode contains a switching mechanism and routes packets to other nodes, subnodes, or user applications. Each node provides network control functions such as topology, directory, path selection, and bandwidth management which can manage intranode links in the same manner that internode links are currently managed.






    Search report